Star stand-up Natasha Leggero, who should not be missed, headlines tonight through Sunday at Carolines

Tonight’s recommendations for the best in New York City comedy (in chronological order, with top picks noted and shows over $10 marked with $) include:

6:00 pm ($5): Three shows about which I know nothing audition for a regular spot on the prestigious UCB Chelsea schedule: Kiwi and Jojo Are Unemployed; George Kareman: The Ultimate Jam; and Convicts, Skinheads & Rabbis. These might be great or awful; but at $1.67 per show, you can’t go far wrong either way. That’s part of the fun of Spank

[TOP PICK] 7:30 pm ($5): “If you were alive in the 70’s, you may have attended some ‘Key Parties’ where you were randomly paired with someone to go home with and engage in free spirited coitus. (Today we either stay at home alone or congregate at an improv theater.) Key Party combines the 70’s arrangement with modern anxiety, exploring the rich moments leading up to that act of coupling and the fallout that follows” at UCB East with stellar comics Jordan Klepper, Laura Grey (delightful old-time radio style theatrical podcast Horrorgasm), and guest improvisors: Key Party; plus in the second half of this double-bill, improv based on the iPods, CDs, and mp3 players provided by audience members, executed by superb performers Fran Gillespie, Ryan Karels, Megan Neuringer, Jesse Falcon, Silvija Ozols, Doug Moe, Lou Perez, Sue Galloway, and Emily Axford: Soundtrack USA

[TOP PICK] [$] 7:30 pm ($25): “The stirring musical story of the courageous and honorable Judah Maccabee, relentlessly hunted by the Hellenized high priest Jason. Join us on the barricades of92YTribeca for Seth Rudetsky as Judah and Matt Leisy as Jason, with Peter J. Cook, Michael Schulman, Billy Zavelson, Jesse Oxfeld, and Rachel Shukert (who also wrote this):” Eight Days More: A Broadway Tribute to Hanukkah

[TOP PICK] [$] [DISCOUNTED] 7:30 pm ($14.45 online using discount code LAUGHTRACK): One of my favorite theatre duos, Rachel Buethe & James Presson, have come out with a new play that updates Hedda Gabler to the world of network TV. It’s a fresh, ambitious work that pushes at the borders between art and reality, entertainment and meaning. And while it’s not a comedy—in some ways, it’s actually an anti-comedy—at its core is a sitcom. For my full review, please click here. If you’re open to something different, don’t miss the too-brief run (ending December 18th) of this vibrant show at Walkerspace (46 Walker Street, near the Canal Street stops of the A/E/C/N/R/1/2/3/6 subways): Friends Don’t Let Friends

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:00 pm ($29 & 2-drink min.) A razor-sharp and irresistible star who was the stand-out judge on the most recent Last Comic Standing; who’s performed on Jay Leno, Chelsea Lately,The Sarah Silverman Program, Adult Swim, and FX, and is slated to star in a Comedy Central Presents special; and who loves music, dark comedy, and mercilessly parodying the rich, performing not-to-be-missed headlining sets tonight through Sunday at the Carolines Comedy Club: Natasha Leggero

[TOP PICK] 8:00 pm ($15): This acclaimed 10-year-and-counting sketch troupe has “amassed a cultish following and a cast who blindly throw themselves into the most questionable of onstage situations, bless their black little hearts….join them for a hilariously unsettling look at growing older, having children, killing your dreams, and settling.” For examples of the troupe’s work, please clickhere and here, and then come to The PIT upstairs theatre to see Spurn

[FREE] 8:00 pm: Mike Lawrence (nerd persona but razor-sharp mind has made this stand-up a rapidly rising star; Comedy Central’s John Oliver’s NY Stand-Up), Jason Kanter, and Sagar Bhatt performing at this free monthly show (every third Thursday) at the Three of Cups lounge (83 First Avenue at 5th Street) hosted by Charlie Kasov & Glenn Danzig: Danzig Needs A Hug

[TOP PICK] [FREE] 8:15 pm: Some of the finest stand-ups in NYC, including Chris Gethard, Marina Franklin, Brooke Van Poppelen, Mark Normand, Matt McCarthy, and Nate Bargatze, each performing 5-7 minutes sets while being filmed for this free show at Brooklyn’s Cameo Gallery (93 North 6th Street): Top Stand-Ups “I Need a Tape” Show

[TOP PICK] [$] 8:30 pm ($20 & 2-drink min.) A comedy icon who’s performed on David Lettermanover 40 times and The Tonight Show over 10 times, and did the acclaimed HBO comedy specialThis’ll Take About An Hour and Showtime special I Love You, headlining tonight through Saturday at the Gotham Comedy Club: Jake Johannsen

[TOP PICK] 9:30 pm ($10): Top comics and comedic storytellers—who tonight are Elna Baker (genius storyteller, and bestselling author of the comedic book The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance; writer for Glamour, Elle; NPR’s This American Life; co-host of red-hotThe Talent Show), Aasif Mandvi (correspondent for The Daily Show), Brad Lawrence (Moth GrandSlam Champion, FringeNYC, co-host of The Standard Issues), and Tracy Rowland (The Moth)—performing at The PIT upstairs theatre to share tales on tonight’s theme The Holidays at one of the finest storytelling shows in the country: Risk!

9:30 pm ($5): If you’re a fan of CollegeHumor.com, you can see the folks behind it plus like-minded comics on the UCB Chelsea stage—tonight including Streeter Seidell, Andy Haynes, Dan Gurewitch, Patrick Cassels, Adrienne lapalucci, and Barry Rothbart—at CollegeHumor Live

9:30 pm ($5): Improvisors (not announced) make up one-act plays on the spot at The PITdownstairs lounge, produced by Dan Hodapp & Micah Sherman: The Scene

[FREE] 9:30 pm: A monthly showcase of both stand-ups and improvisors at The Creek upstairs theatre in Queens’ Long Island City, hosted by stand-up Zach Broussard and improv troupe Priest & the Beekeeper: Pig Pile

[TOP PICK] 11:00 pm ($5): It’s a battle of titans as two of the finest improv troupes in the country, Outlook of the Poet and The Stepfaters, compete for audience laughs and votes at UCB Chelsea for the raucous Cage Match